Novels or non fiction outside of theology

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arapahoepark

arapahoepark

Puritan Board Professor
I am curious what do you guys read outside theology? I tend to read a lot of history and spy fiction. What should you read and what have you found edifying in both fiction and non-fiction?
 
Military history -- I especially enjoy the books of Antony Beevor about various battles. I also recently read Norman Dixon's On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, which was fascinating. For fiction, I really enjoy Westerns (Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour) and classic English lit.

But truthfully my non-theological reading goes all over the place.
 
Financial/market investing, including behavioral finance, epidemics/disease in history (decades before COVID), and military history are some of my go-tos. Fiction-wise, I really like Austen and Dickens, but that's an area I'll probably circle back to at some point.
 
I love those DK picture books that are on various topics. For whatever reason, I am not really into fictional reading. For fiction, I guess I'd rather just watch a show or movie.
 
I like history. Military history and westward expansion…mountain men etc.

For some strange reason I have been into science fiction for the last few years.
 
I've intended on reading more fiction the last two years but haven't. LOL. Sci-fi is my favorite genre.

In non-fiction, outside of theology (and philosophy) I read many different things from business, communication, history, politics, health, science and tech.

A couple examples of what I am reading now are this and this.
 
ZackF said:
I've intended on reading more fiction the last two years but haven't. LOL. Sci-fi is my favorite genre.

In non-fiction, outside of theology (and philosophy) I read many different things from business, communication, history, politics, health, science and tech.

A couple examples of what I am reading now are this and this.
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How useful are some books on communication, etc.?
 
arapahoepark said:
How useful are some books on communication, etc.?
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Some are not useful. Boilerplate stuff or pop psych pap. Maybe I get cynical if I've read a lot of material on something.

Other's are most helpful. "Crucial Conversations" is a classic. "De-Escalation" by Doug Noll is fantastic. "How to Have Impossible Conversations" by Boghossian and Lindsay is helpful. So far, the book in my original post by Guzman looks promising but I'm not too far along. I've also read numerous books on sales, coaching, speaking, counseling, psychology, marketing, writing (I know, it doesn't always show), interviewing and interrogation over the years. The late Reid Buckley's "Strickly Speaking" is probably dated by now, but helpful for all kinds of speaking. It crushed what remaining fear of public speaking I had after high school. There have been dozens of works over the past three decades that have been helpful. I'll try to recall more of them.
 
I'm sort of embarrassed to talk about it. I spend 4-5 hours a day reading various systematic theologies. Then I read things on material science and aerodynamics. And also works on fly-tying. I admit to C.S. Lewis essays, too.

I really like Langewiesche's Stick and Rudder and R.Buckminster Fuller's Critical Path. Books on native grasses of the lower Snake River and fly-fishing for steelhead round out the off-duty reading.
 
Since you asked: history really, mainly religious history, or the news, or articles about science or business. The reading of novels is a form of recreation that seems inconsistent with a profession of godliness, but I know many disagree with that these days.
 
Sir Walter Scott, C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, Dumas, Avi, Dickens, Daniel Defoe, etc. for fiction, and then a variety of history, biographies, and various political types. I also really like Thomas Sewell for all things economics and culture. This is not to mention the various theological works and systematics. I am currently reading The Meaning of the millennium: Four Views, and Manly Dominion by Mark Chanski.
 
I just got done reading the Space Trilogy by Lewis. It was very enjoyable. I plan to read the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings next.
 
VictorBravo said:
I'm sort of embarrassed to talk about it. I spend 4-5 hours a day reading various systematic theologies. Then I read things on material science and aerodynamics. And also works on fly-tying. I admit to C.S. Lewis essays, too.

I really like Langewiesche's Stick and Rudder and R.Buckminster Fuller's Critical Path. Books on native grasses of the lower Snake River and fly-fishing for steelhead round out the off-duty reading.
Click to expand...
Curious: do you read law? Or is there any point for a non-lawyer to read it (perhaps a stupid question)?
 
arapahoepark said:
Curious: do you read law? Or is there any point for a non-lawyer to read it (perhaps a stupid question)?
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I do read all the advance sheets from Washington and Idaho courts. And the latest Supreme Court decisions too. I never think of that as reading, though. After 30 years of practice, reading court cases is pretty quick and something you can do over eggs and sausage at breakfast.
 
VictorBravo said:
I'm sort of embarrassed to talk about it. I spend 4-5 hours a day reading various systematic theologies. Then I read things on material science and aerodynamics. And also works on fly-tying. I admit to C.S. Lewis essays, too.

I really like Langewiesche's Stick and Rudder and R.Buckminster Fuller's Critical Path. Books on native grasses of the lower Snake River and fly-fishing for steelhead round out the off-duty reading.
Click to expand...

Are you a pilot? :)
 
VictorBravo said:
I'm sort of embarrassed to talk about it. I spend 4-5 hours a day reading various systematic theologies. Then I read things on material science and aerodynamics. And also works on fly-tying. I admit to C.S. Lewis essays, too.

I really like Langewiesche's Stick and Rudder and R.Buckminster Fuller's Critical Path. Books on native grasses of the lower Snake River and fly-fishing for steelhead round out the off-duty reading.
Click to expand...
Fuller is on my long list. A different thinker.
 
I was into The Wheel of Time for awhile, made it to book 7. But alas I lost interest and found more important things to do. LOTR is on the list though
 
I'm almost always reading three books at a time (not counting the Bible): one Christian non-fiction, one general non-fiction, and one-fiction.

General non-fiction is usually history but can be almost anything. I'm a fan of Robert Kaplan in particular.
Fiction ranges from classics (Dostoevsky, Dickens, etc.) to sci-fi (Heinlein, Card, Stephenson, Herbert) to fantasy (Tolkien, Salvatore, Sanderson) to spy/military (mostly Clancy).
 
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I usually have a couple theology books or Puritan writings going at any given time, but it is pretty slow going for me; and I'm less ambitious in my reading overall than I used to be.

I have said it before, but I am always trying to encourage people to read Sigrid Undset's medieval novels, particularly Kristin Lavransdatter. (Here is an article I wrote about it last year.) I probably read Lewis's Space Trilogy and Tolkien's Lord of the Rings every few years. I've gotten a lot out of Austen and Tolstoy. My husband listened to Moby Dick on audiobook (the one read by William Hootkins) earlier this year and I only caught bits here and there, but was amazed by what I heard.

I have something of a liking for war fiction -- John Biggins's A Sailor of Austria and sequels are surprisingly entertaining (more on the lighthearted side), and I've also enjoyed Herman Wouk's The Caine Mutiny and his epic WWII novels, Winds of War and War and Remembrance.

Oh, and I recently read Marly Youmans' novel set in colonial Massachusetts, Charis in the World of Wonders. It's a surprisingly sympathetic portrayal of a young Puritan woman that could be of interest to some here.

I also like to read published letters and diaries; right now I'm reading the letters of Hans and Sophie Scholl (published as At the Heart of the White Rose by Plough).
 
ZackF said:
Some are not useful. Boilerplate stuff or pop psych pap. Maybe I get cynical if I've read a lot of material on something.

Other's are most helpful. "Crucial Conversations" is a classic. "De-Escalation" by Doug Noll is fantastic. "How to Have Impossible Conversations" by Boghossian and Lindsay is helpful. So far, the book in my original post by Guzman looks promising but I'm not too far along. I've also read numerous books on sales, coaching, speaking, counseling, psychology, marketing, writing (I know, it doesn't always show), interviewing and interrogation over the years. The late Reid Buckley's "Strickly Speaking" is probably dated by now, but helpful for all kinds of speaking. It crushed what remaining fear of public speaking I had after high school. There have been dozens of works over the past three decades that have been helpful. I'll try to recall more of them.
Click to expand...

"The Speed of Trust" by Stephen M.R. Covey (the late Stephen Covey's son). The title says it. The faster trust grows the better and how to do it. It is on my re-read list.

"Deep Work" and "A World Without Email" by Cal Newport. A theoretical computer scientist who writes convincingly about producing quality, important work without losing it in our sea of distractions. Logical and well documented, Newport's works are strident yet with a healthy balance of diagnoses and treatments.

"Never Split the Difference" by Chris Voss. A handbook of negotiation from a former FBI hostage negotiator. Voss's story along with actionable suggestions make this entertaining and useful. I've used on my job talking to angry customers and difficult employees.

"Tactics" by Greg Koukl . This is a Christian book but many of the communications concepts transfer to subjects other than apologetics. I think it needs an update to include more about communicating in increasingly ideologically intolerant spaces. The appeals to the objective good of free exchanges and inquiries of ideas are not the polite society shoe-ins they were pre-2010 or so. I am hoping Neil Shenvi's upcoming book on Critical Theory addresses this.

I'll start reviewing these kinds of books long-form if people find them helpful.
 
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